INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Jalen Rose continued his tear by
scoring 31 points as the Indiana Pacers snapped a three-game
losing streak with a 103-93 victory over Tracy McGrady and the
Orlando Magic.

Rose scored at least 30 points for the fourth time in the last
six games. His jumper with 27 seconds left in the first half
gave Indiana the lead for good, 51-50.

Reggie Miller added 22 points and Jonathan Bender chipped in a
career-high 20 for the Pacers, who improved to 11-4 against
teams with losing records. They are 2-11 vs. teams above the
.500 mark.

"The schedule finds a way to work itself out," Rose said. "We've
been playing a lot of games here lately. We're finding a way to
go out and play without practicing, and when you have a young
team, that sometimes puts you behind the eight ball."

McGrady poured in a career-best 43 points but got little help as
Orlando had its winning streak snapped at three games. The
Magic cut a 15-point deficit to four with 8:55 to play but sank
just one more field goal the rest of the way.

"You can't win with just one guy," Orlando coacg Doc Rivers
said. "Indiana is a difficult team to play for us. They have
offensive threats that we just don't have."

A 3-pointer by Darrell Armstrong got Orlando within 88-84 but
Indiana scored the next seven points on a dunk by Austin
Croshere, 3-pointer from Miller and 14-footer from Derrick McKey
for a 95-84 lead with 6:21 left.

The Magic never got within five points again. They missed eight
consecutive shots from the floor before a layup by Armstrong got
them within 99-89 with 3:28 to play.

Croshere's basket with 2:26 left in the third quarter gave
Indiana an 83-68 cushion. But McGrady had seven points during a
16-5 run that got Orlando within four points for the final time.

McGrady scored at least 30 points for the eighth time this
season and surpassed his career best of 40, set in a 95-74 win
over New Jersey on December 2.

"I felt it tonight," he said. "I felt it from the start that I
was going to have a big game, that I was going to come out and
be aggressive."

McGrady went 15-of-19 from the free throw line but hit only
13-of-31 field goal attempts for a team that is without another
legitimate scorer as Grant Hill continued to nurse an ankle
injury.

"I think if we had just one more guy that was scoring, I think
we would have won this game," McGrady said. "Basically,
everybody was just standing around watching me. We didn't get
anybody else involved."

Armstrong scored 13 points and rookie Mike Miller added 11 off
the bench for the Magic, who shot just 38.5 percent (30-of-78)
from the field.

Orlando's starting frontcourt of Bo Outlaw, John Amaechi and
Michael Doleac totaled 14 points against the trio of Bender,
Jeff Foster and Jermaine O'Neal, which went for 33 points, 22
rebounds and nine blocks.

Bender, who was drafted out of high school last year, set a
career high with four blocks and tied career bests with five
rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes.

"I figure it's a breakout game for me and I gotta have more
games like this," he said.

"Anytime you can get him to step up and give his career high on
Christmas Day, that's something we definitely needed and that's
what we're going to need throughout," Rose added. "We're going
to need somebody to step up and really have a game for us, to
take some of the pressure off myself and Reggie."

Rose went 14-of-25 from the floor. He hit three straight
baskets late in the second half as Indiana closed the second
quarter with a 12-2 run. Miller's 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds
left gave the Pacers a 54-50 edge at the break.

"Our second unit really got us the lead but then we had two or
three turnovers and Reggie came down and hit a three," Rivers
said. "That got them back in the game and got him back in the
game."

Indiana opened the second half on a 15-6 run. Rose and Miller
had four points apiece during the burst, which Bender capped
with a 3-pointer.

"I felt the key was once we got up, we found a way to sustain,"
Rose said. "We didn't allow them to get big-time runs and we
didn't allow them to get any momentum that they could carry."

Foster grabbed nine rebounds and Rose and O'Neal added eight
apiece for the Pacers, who held a 47-39 advantage off the
boards.

Indiana had a 24-23 edge after the opening period but McGrady
and Miller scored five points apiece during a 10-0 run that gave
Orlando a 33-24 advantage 3:55 into the second quarter. McGrady
had 23 points by halftime.